New York City has officially lifted all pandemic restrictions as cases of the coronavirus continue to decline in the state—and most importantly this means that the New York Botanical Garden will finally open Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Room on 3 August. The work has only been viewable from the outside since the blockbuster exhibition Cosmic Nature opened at the garden in April after a year-long postponement.
The newly-commissioned Infinity Mirrored Room—Illusion Inside the Heart (2020) comprises a cube-like glass structure with a reflective mirror-polished stainless steel surface pierced by small holes. The work “reflected the seasonality of the garden’s landscape”, a spokesman previously said of the tantalisingly out-of-reach room, but some wondered what the point of an Infinity Room was if you couldn’t go inside.
There are separate, $10 timed tickets to enter the piece, which go on sale this week, in addition to the $35 admission fee for the garden, which is regularly sold out, so start planning early. Don’t feel like braving an hours-long queue this summer? You could have better luck at the Rubell Museum in Miami, which boasts two Infinity Rooms that each reopen this week after being closed since late March last year.
Correction: Tickets for Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room go on sale this week, but the installation does not open until August